Standing 6-feet-tall, statuesque Amelia Vega won the 2003 Miss Universe pageant, becoming the first Dominican ever to win the title. Along with her natural beauty, it was her personality that swayed judges to crown her.

A native of Santiago, Dominican Republic, Amelia was born on November 7, 1984. She was trained for pageantry in Venezuela however, and defeated a Venezuelan model in her first pageant win. The school then changed it’s rules and decided to ban the training of foreign contestants.